Snap-hook.



- E. B. MERRIMAN.

SNAP HOOK.

AYPLIOATION FILED APR. 27, 1906.

Patented Alig. 9, 1910.

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EDWARD B. Mnnmivmn, or MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

SNAP-HOOK.

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Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed April 27, 1906.

Patented Aug. 9, 1910. Serial No. 313,920.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD B. MERRIMAN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Milton, in the county of Norfolk and State of l\ Iassachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Snap-Hooks, of which the following is a specification.

My invention is intended to provide a strong and durable snap hook which will be especially adapted for use in connection with the rigging of yachts and other vessels, the novel features in which my invention resides being hereinafter set forth in detail.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a snap hook, in partially-open position, embodying the preferred form of my invention, and Fig. 2 is a similar view, partly in section, showing the snap hook closed.

Referring to the drawings, 2 indicates the body portion of the snap hook, which is adapted for attachment to a rope or the like in any suitable manner as by means of an eye 3 carried by said body portion and pref-. erably forming an integral part of the same.

4 represents the hook proper, which is pivoted at one end between a pair of lugs 5 carried by said body portion and is so proportioned that its opposite or free end 6 will overlap and abut againstthe adjacent end of the body portion when the hook is closed. The free end 6 of the hook is perforated to receive the projecting end of a locking pin 7 carried by the body portion 2 and preferably contained within the hollow interior thereof, said pin 7 being mounted to slide lengthwise within the portion 2 and surrounded by an actuating spring 8 bearing at one end against said body portion and at the other end against a shoulder 9 formed on the pin, the tendency of the spring 8 being to force said pin toward that end of the body portion against which the free end of the hook 4 abuts. The opposite end of the pin 7 projects beyond the body portion and is provided with an operating head or thumb piece 10 by means of which it may be drawn back against the pressure exerted by the spring 8, sufficient space for the location and manipulation of this thumb piece 10 being provided by locating the lugs 5 a short distance above that portion of the body portion 2 which contains the pin and its spring.

As thus constructed, when the hook is closed any tension which may be put upon it is resisted at one end of the hook by the pivot on which it turns, and at its other end by the pin 7 which passes through the perforated free end of the hook, and the tendency of the ends of the hook to approach each other under a heavy strain is resisted by the transversely extending body portion 2 against which the free end of the hook abuts, so that said body portion forms a strut to keep the ends of the hook positively separated. The hook is readily unlocked by retracting the pin 7 by means of its operating head 10, and in order to facilitate the closing and locking of the hook I prefer to bevel the free end of the latter, as at 11, in such manner that when the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 1 said beveled portion will make contact with the slightly beveled free end of the pin 7, so that upon forcing the hook into its closed position the bevel 11 will act as a cam surface to press the pin 7 inward until the perforation in the free end of the hook is opposite said pin, whereupon the free end of the pin will snap into the perforation and lock the hook as above described.

As will be seen by reference to the drawings, the tension of the spring 8 serves to retain the head or thumb piece 10 in contact or abutting relation to the rear end of the body portion, the thumb piece being of a size to provide a contour approximately flush with the sides of the body portion, the head lying between the projecting portions formed by the lugs 5 on one side and the attaching means on the other, thereby providing protecting means against accidental withdrawal of the locking pin from the hook member in use, the slight projecting portion of the head on the unprotected sides ofl'eril'ig but slight opportunity for engagement, excepting that provided for intentional mani nilation of the head. This construction in connection with the particular form of connection between the pin and the hook member provides practically an elimination of liability of accidental opening of the hook member in use, the requirement that the pin be entirely drawn into the body portion before the hook member is free, rendering accidental opening practically impossible. Another advantage of this particular feature lies in the fact that the movement of the pin is in a direction at right angles to the direction of strain (the latter being in a line extending through the hook member and attaching means), thereby providing for a ready manipulation of the pin by the use of a single hand, the fingers of which grasp the head 10 while the snap hook istaut, the pulling strain of the operator being placed on both hook and attaching means and requiring no manipulation either by the hand of the operator or other means such as a spring to disengage the hook member from the pin.

It will be seen that my invention provides a strong and durable snap hook, the parts of which cannot he accidentally displaced or rendered inoperative, the pin 7 and its operating spring being substantially inclosecl by the body portion 2 and thereby protected from corrosion and from being clogged by dirt or otherwise. Said body portion also provides a long bearing and support for the pin and thus strengthens it against bending strains. The eye 3 may 0bviously be replaced by any other desired form of connection suitable for the purpose for which the device is intended to be used.

I claim as my invention:

1. A snap hook comprising a hollow body portion having permanently positioned attaching means on one side thereof and a hook member pivotally mounted on the opposite side of said body portion, a locking pin slidably mounted axially of said body portion and in a direction at right angles to a line extending through the hook member and attaching means, said pin normally extending beyond the opposite ends of the body portion and having one of its ends formed with a head, the opposite end of the ain being engageable with the hook member, and a tension member for normally retaining said head in abutting relation with the body portion, whereby in the disengaging movement of the pin and hook member the head is limited to a movement axially and away from the body portion.

2. A snap hook comprising a hollow body portion having permanently positioned attaching means on one side thereof and a hook member pivotally mounted on the opposite side of said body portion, a locking pin slidably mounted axially of said body portion and in a direction at right angles to a line extending through the hook member and attaching means, said pin normally extending beyond the opposite ends of the body portion and having one of its ends formed with a head, the opposite end of the pin being engageable with the hook member, and a tension member for normally retaining said head in abutting relation with the body portion, whereby in the disengaging movement of the pin and hook member the head is limited to a movement axially and away from the body portion, said attaching means and hook member projecting beyond the outer plane of the head when in normal position, whereby the head is protected against accidental displacement.

3. A snap hook comprising a hollow body portion, attaching means formed integral therewith on one side of the same, a hook located on the opposite side of said body portion and pivoted to one end thereof, said hook being arranged to abut at its free end against the opposite end of the body portion whereby the latter serves as a strut in a direction transverse to the line of strain on the hook and attaching means, a springactuated locking pin arranged to slide longitudinally in said body portion and adapted to enter a perforation formed in the free end of the hook when the latter is in its closed position, and means located on the exterior of the body portion for operating said locking pin.

4-. A snap hook comprising a hollow body portion, an attaching eye carried by one side of the same, a hook located on the opposite side of said body portion and pivoted to one end thereof, said hook being arranged to abut at its free end against the opposite end of the body portion whereby the latter serves as a strut in a direction transverse to the line of strain on the hook and eye, and a spring-actuated locking pin arranged to slide longitudinally in said body portion and normally extending beyond the opposite ends thereof, said pin being adapted to enter a perforation formed in the free end of the hook when the latter is in its closed position.

5. A snap hook comprising a hollow body portion, an attaching eye carried by one side of the same, a hook located on the opposite side of said body portion and pivoted to one end thereof, said hook being arranged to abut at its free end against the opposite end of the body portion whereby the latter serves as a strut in a direction transverse to the line of strain on the hook and eye, and a spring-actuated locking pin arranged to slide longitudinally in said body portion and normally extending beyond the opposite ends thereof, one end of said pin being adapted to enter a perforation formed in the free end of the hook when the latter is in its closed position, the opposite end of the pin having a head normally lying in abutting relation with the body-portion.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name this twenty-first day of April, 1906.

EDlVARD B. MERRlh IAN.

Witnesses E. D. CHADwIcK, JOSEPH T. BRENNAN. 

